Service sector-

‘Medical tourism in Goa-

A conflicting view’
Presented by,
Namrata Wagle
Moses Fernandes
Sangeeta Verma
 Preview -Tourism sector
• Tourism Sector- largest service sector contributing
about US$100 billion to the Indian economy
• Expected to increase to US$275.5 billion by 2018
• Annual growth rate - 9.4%
• No. of foreign tourists coming to India- around 5
million every year
• Contribution to national GDP - 6.23 %
• Contribution to total employment in the country-
almost 8.78%
 Govt. of India Initiatives
The Government’s major policy initiatives include:
• Liberalization in aviation sector
• Pricing policy for aviation turbine fuel which
influences internal air fares
• Rationalization in tax rates in the hospitality sector
• Tourist friendly visa regime
• Immigration services
• Procedural changes in making available land for
construction of hotels
The Government initiatives to attract both inbound and
outbound tourists:

• Incredible India
• Atethie devo bhava (guests are equal to god)
• Various Infrastructure building initiatives-
• National Highways Development Project, Golden
Quadrilateral and north-south and east-west
corridors
• The Sagarmala project which intends to create a
network of seaports, which will change the way
people discover and experience real India.
 The states which have been identified by the Indian Ministry of tourism

• Himachal Pradesh
• Gujarat
• Maharashtra
• Bihar
• Karnataka
• Madhya Pradesh
• Andhra Pradesh
• Kerala
• Tamil Nadu
• Orissa
• Assam
• Sikkim
• Rajasthan
• West Bengal and Goa.
 Tourism in Goa
• Contribution of Tourism industry to the Goan
economy - $912 million in 2009-2010.
• Goa is renowned for – beaches, places of
worship ,world heritage architecture , strong
influence of Portuguese culture
 Potential in tourism sector
• Potential to create ample employment opportunities,
• Generate huge revenue for the state
• If developed with proper care and regulation it can
be envisaged as an environment friendly industry.
• Important avenues have been identified in this
sector.
• One such important avenue in the tourism industry is
Medical Tourism or the health care industry.
 What is medical tourism?

“Any kind of travel

to make yourself or
a member of your
family healthy.”

Medical tourism can be broadly defined as

provision of ‘cost effective’ private medical
care in collaboration with the tourism industry
for patients needing surgical and other forms
of specialized treatment.
Medical And Health care tourism has 4 parts

Illness Wellness Enhancement Reproduction

Fertility
treatment
Medical check up Acupuncture
Health screening Beauty care
Dental treatment Facials
Joint Massage
replacement Spa Cosmetic surgery
Heart surgery yoga Breast surgery
Facelifts
Cosmetic dental
work
 Medical Tourism Sector

• Health care is a $3trillion industry worldwide.

• Countries where medical tourism is being
actively promoted include Greece, South Africa,
Jordan, India, Malaysia, Philippines and
Singapore.
• India is a recent entrant in this field.
• India’s $17-billion-a-year health-care industry
could grow 13 per cent in each of the next six
years, boosted by medical tourism
• India has the potential to tap this segment by
highlighting its state-of-art facilities and services,
and exploiting the brand equity of leading Indian
healthcare professionals across the globe.
• Industry watchers say it is growing at 30 per cent
annually making it a Rs. 9,500-crore industry by
2015.
• The value of medical tourism alone to India is
estimated to go as high as $2 billion a year by 2012. 
Why do foreigners choose India or for that
matter Goa for health care needs?
• A decade ago Indians requiring sophisticated medical
procedures had to travel abroad to avail of these
facilities.
• Spiraling costs of health care abroad made people look
for alternative affordable options.
• Government of India and private players in the health
and tourism industry realized that India was already a
sought after destination on the international scene, they
could further explore the potential in both these sectors
if they could integrate these two diverse industries.
• The highest USP (Unique selling point) of India
for Medical tourism is its Price advantage over
the western nations.
• The slogan thus is “First World treatment’ at
Third World prices”.
• In India the same treatments may cost only a
tenth and sometimes even a sixteenth of the
cost in the West.
 Medical tourism in India V/s Abroad –Cost
comparison (in US$)
Procedure USA INDIA THAILAND SINGAPORE MALAYSIA KOREA MEXICO AFRICA UAE

Heart Bypass
133,000 7,000 22,000 16,300 12,000 31,700 27,000 24,100 40,900

Heart valve
replacement
with bypass 140,000 9,500 25,000 22,000 13,400 42,000 30,000 30,000 50,600

Hip
Replacement
57,000 7,020 12,700 1,200 7,500 10,600 13,900 11,400 46,000

Knee
Replacement
53,000 9,200 11,500 9,600 12,000 11,800 14,900 10,700 40,200

Face Lift
16,000 4,800 5,000 7,500 6,400 6,600 11,300 4,900 n/a

Lap. Gastric
Bypass
52,000 9,300 13,000 16,500 12,700 9,300 11,000 n/a n/a

Note: This is an indicative price which is subject to change depending on patients

medical condition
• As many as 150,000 medical tourists come to
India every year combining it with a relaxing
holiday.
• Indian corporate hospitals such as Apollo,
Vivus, Wockhardt etc. are on par, if not better
than the best hospitals in Thailand,
Philippines, Russia etc .
 Some of the reasons for foreign tourists to come to India for medical treatment can be listed as
follows:

1. Medical services of International standards

2. Highly qualified Physicians/Surgeons and well trained
hospital support staff.
3. Costs of medical services in India are lower by at least 60-
80% compared to similar procedures in Europe and U.S.A.
4. The Waiting time for appointments is minimal or nil as
compared to western countries.
5. Effortless communication between foreign patients and
hospital staff /physicians
6. Comfortable and luxurious conditions for patients to
recuperate at affordable costs.
 Perception of the people
• The perception of the local people needs to be
considered regarding this sector as they will
have to deal with the negative aspects (if any)
of this sector in the long run.
 Some of the questions which need to be addressed

• Are locals given a secondary treatment in the name of

medical tourism, just because foreign nationals can pay
more?
• Is the quality of medical facility really up to the mark, or is it
just an over statement?
• Is Goa Government creating the necessary infrastructure?
• Are even the basic medical facilities reaching the ‘aam
admi’ (common man)?
• Are these so-called state-of-art medical facilities a money
making racket?
 Observations
• Local Goans are indeed many times given a
secondary treatment.
• Foreign patients are charged higher fees as
compared to locals for the same services.
• Prices of overall medical treatments in Goa are
escalating because of the boom in medical
tourism and Goan locals are feeling the pinch.
 Observations
• The glossy picture painted by the promoters of
medical tourism mainly the travel agencies;
corporate owners of the hospitals or the Goa
government may be far away from the reality.
• Foreign tourists who come for treatment to
Goa are from the lower strata of society and
hence they prefer the cost advantage over
quality standards.
 Observations
• Goa Government has certainly taken
measures to ensure the inflow of foreign
tourists into Goa.
• A number of airlines like Qatar airways, Jet
airways etc. have flights connecting Goa with
all the major international destinations.
• The Goa Government is also coming up with a
second airport at Mopa in North Goa
 Observations
• The question remains that although the government is
taking measures to ensure the growth of inflow of tourists
into Goa will they be able to sustain this growth?
• Unplanned development along the beach belt.
• Traffic congestion
• No proper maintenance of beaches
• Water supply problems
• Accommodations provided by the Tourism Department
are available at affordable rates but lack maintenance.
 Observations
• Remote areas of Goa still lack basic
medical facilities
• Medical facilities are high priced for senior
citizens (this despite India’s much hyped
reasonably-priced generic medicines)
• The average Goan can neither afford the
charges of the super-specialty hospitals nor
basic healthcare insurance.
 Observations
• The intentions of the promoters of medical
tourism cannot be totally discounted as they
do impart social values through these
ventures.
• Foreign patients do go home satisfied and are
on record saying that they appreciate the
professional manner in which their medical
cases were handled.
 Observations
• Private limited companies like Health Tourism India
registered with the Government of India, corporate
players in the medical tourism sector, travel agents etc.
have taken great initiative
• for bridging healthcare worldwide
• providing an easy and direct access to the World-class
Health Care Facilities,
• Cost-effective treatment procedures with no waiting
period and
• premier leisure /tour opportunities in India.
 Conclusion

• Health and Tourism Departments should

collaborate to ensure that foreign tourists
continue to enjoy medical vacations while the
locals’ health concerns are adequately
addressed too.
• Equal distribution of health care among rural
and urban population.
• Hospitals are getting accreditation by
international agencies as it boosts the
confidence of foreign patients.
• The hospitals are also trying to get empanelled
by insurance companies abroad.
• All these measures bring discipline to the
healthcare industry and force it to adopt
internationally accepted systems and
standardize their processes.
• The key element in the hospital industry is cost
which has a tendency to rise taking medicare
beyond the reach of the common man.
• Low capacity utilization of hospital infrastructure
may be one reason for the high cost.
• To attract foreign patients the hospitals need to
spruce up their infrastructure and get technology
updates from time to time.
• The hospitals should be able to employ and
retain the specialist physicians who are in
demand globally.
• With lucrative opportunities in sight even NRI
medical professionals may feel compelled to
return.
• Or along with the foreign patients the
country’s hospitals may fly in the doctors too.
• In all this fervor, the local medicare seeker may get pushed
down the preference ladder.
• Also with the private hospitals catching the limelight,
government hospitals may be fighting a losing battle to
retain talent.
• But beyond all these issues, there still is a question that
remains unanswered: Can India afford to dedicate its scarce
medical resources to care for the global market?
• Medical care for foreign patients is only a small segment
now but, then, the segment that gets specialty care in India
is also very small.